Virginia’s two U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine both backed an amendment to federal water management legislation this week that addresses the needs of the Four Mile Run that runs through Falls Church. The Four Mile Run amendment makes a technical fix to Northern Virginia’s Four Mile Run flood protection project authorization.

The Four Mile Run runs from Falls Church through Arlington County and into Alexandria. It was once a center of recreation and commerce until a flood control project in the 1970s made it less attractive for those purposes. Since 2003, Arlington County and the City of Alexandria have been working with the federal agencies to restore the Four Mile Run for recreational use.

The amendment this week updates the flow rate for the project from a standard of 27,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) set in 1974 to a more appropriate level of 18,000 cfs that would provide 100-year flood plain protection while permitting the Four Mile Run restoration project to move forward, according to a press release from Sen. Warner’s office.